Dr. Uschi Traub, Head of Health Promotion, and Kevin Dichtl presented the prizes to one winner of the raffle as part of the campaign: S. Häberle (Friedrich-Abel-Gymnasium, Vaihingen an der Enz) and Fivos Binjamin Kiritsis (Gustav-Schönleber-Schule, Bietigheim-Bissingen) received vouchers for Breuningerland.
During the campaign under the motto "HPV - Don't let the virus win!" at all secondary schools and in surgeries in the second quarter of 2021, the Ludwigsburg health department and the medical profession, with the support of the school principals, informed all pupils in year 6 and their parents. The campaign has been held annually since 2018.
Silke Häberle, mother of S., thinks the campaign is very important. "You can protect yourself and others with simple means. Familiar parents from the neighboring Enzkreis district regretted that this campaign is only being carried out in the Ludwigsburg district." S. encourages other children: "Although I'm afraid of injections, I did the vaccination because of the benefits." And Fivos appeals to his classmates: "Get vaccinated - prevention is better than cure." Father Dimitrios Kiritsis fully agrees with his son's opinion.
"We must not forget that at least six types of cancer are attributable to HPV," emphasizes Traub. Cervical, vulvar, vaginal, mouth and throat, anal and penile cancer. Every year, between 7,700 and 9,600 people in Germany are diagnosed with HPV-associated cancers. HPV vaccination in advance of a risk of infection, early detection examinations and early treatment can virtually eliminate these cancers.
The number of HPV vaccinations billed to the Baden-Württemberg Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in the 2nd quarter of 2021 in the district of Ludwigsburg (1878, a 15% increase on the same quarter of the previous year) remained significantly higher than in the comparative district of Esslingen (1533, an 8% increase on the same quarter of the previous year).
Background information:
The vaccination rate against human papillomaviruses in Germany is not sufficient for comprehensive protection. This is achieved with a vaccination rate of at least 70 percent. According to the German Cancer Research Center, vaccination rates are particularly low in southern Germany. There are large regional differences from around 38% vaccination coverage in Baden-Württemberg to around 67% in Saxony-Anhalt. The HPV vaccination rate for girls is still far too low 14 years after the vaccination recommendation was issued. In 2019, only around 47% of 15-year-old girls were vaccinated against HPV. Only 14% of girls aged 11 have full HPV vaccination protection. By comparison, the Scandinavian countries and Australia report vaccination rates of 80 to 90 percent.
With the current development of the HPV vaccination rate, Germany will miss the WHO target of fully vaccinating more than 90% of 15-year-old girls with HPV vaccination by 2030 and thus accept many avoidable precancerous lesions and cancers requiring treatment with suffering and, in the worst case, death.
The HPV vaccination rate for boys is very low in the second year since the recommendation: only around 5% of 15-year-old boys are vaccinated against HPV.
The drop-out rate is high. At the age of 18, around 19% of girls who have started the HPV vaccination have not completed the vaccination series.
The HPV vaccination protects nine out of ten women against cervical cancer, eight out of ten against vaginal cancer and seven out of ten against vulvar cancer. Nine out of ten vaccinated men and women are protected against anal cancer and six out of ten against mouth and throat cancer. Furthermore, the vaccination prevents the occurrence of penile cancer in six out of ten cases. The Gardasil 9 vaccine offers additional protection against HPV types, which are responsible for around 90 percent of genital warts.
More than 270 million doses have been administered worldwide since the vaccine was approved. Both before and after approval, the safety of the HPV vaccination was examined in various extensive studies. According to the Robert Koch Institute, no serious side effects causally related to the HPV vaccination were identified. In particular, the studies showed no connection with autoimmune diseases or neurological complications. Side effects such as headaches, dizziness or fatigue are common and can also occur in a severe form. However, these are temporary and completely reversible. As with other vaccinations, anaphylaxis can occur in very rare cases (around 1.7 cases per 1 million vaccinations).
